Parenting Archives

What? Montessori for babies?

Sometimes people are surprised to learn that Montessori principles can apply from birth. And most commonly I hear people say, “if only I’d known about these ideas earlier". So here are all my favourite ideas for introducing Montessori even to the youngest children. If you have toddlers, preschoolers or older…

Creating holiday rituals with your children

I love this time of year. It’s cool outside, it’s getting dark earlier and earlier, the festive lights are going up along the streets — such a lovely time of year to get cosy inside and a great time of year to establish rituals in your family. (Apologies to those…

How to get out the door on time (even with kids)

I still remember when my son was young and getting into battles with him to leave the park, a friend’s house or even home. I’d start nice and patient; then I’d kind of be bribing him with some idea about what we were doing next; and I mostly always ended…

Being your child’s translator may be the answer we’ve been looking for

As a Montessori teacher and parent, I am constantly looking for ways to see the world through the child’s eyes. It helps me to understand what is going on for them and to give some guidance when necessary. What I’ve realised is that I have become a child’s translator. And…

How to help your shy kid get confident

Confidence is defined as “Trust or faith in a person or thing; A feeling of reassurance, especially of self-assurance." A parent recently asked me how they could gently give their child more confidence. The Montessori approach engenders confident children as these children are shown every day that we believe they…

Kindness through creativity

We are so lucky to have many wise parents in our classes. One of these is Laura Carmichael. When I posted here about starting a revolution of kindness, Laura wrote back about her love of creativity and creation to spread kindness in their family. I loved the idea so much,…

Let’s start a revolution of kindness

It’s the last week before the school holidays start here in the Netherlands. So it will just be a quick post today. Revolution of kindness I was thinking about something we could all work on over the summer. And I’ve decided on something rather ambitious. Let’s start a revolution of…

Setting limits Montessori-style

When my son was a toddler he hated leaving places. So I would begin to dread when it was time to go home. I’d be thinking, “how am I going to get him to leave soon?" No matter how long we stayed, there were always tears. And did I mention…

Musings on the absorbent mind

Today I’m planning something a little different for this blog post. Usually I offer advice and practical suggestions on ways to get cooperation from your children, or how to understand your child better. Today I’d just like to muse a bit. Ok with you? I’m curious if this will resonate…

How to stop saying “no” forever + what to say instead

It’s been nearly 6 months since I set up The Montessori Notebook. Whooosh. That went fast. I’m realising just now (ha!) that what I am hoping you will be learning along the way is a Montessori mindset – respecting the child; preparing their spaces so they are beautiful and engaging…

Points of interest

Usually in my newsletters and blog posts, I address the most commonly asked questions I hear from parent. Not today. It’s something I rarely even get asked about. But it’s something that I have learned as a Montessori teacher that I want to share with you. Maybe it’s meant to…

10 ways to deal with a child who has trouble sharing Montessori-style

Why is it difficult to share? When a baby is around a year, another child can usually walk up to them, take the toy they are playing with out of their hands and the baby will turn around and pick up the next closest toy. Then, around 16 months, they…